Control apparatus for electric power steering system

• US 5,861,725 A
• Filed: 08/12/1997
• Issued: 01/19/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NSK Limited
• Original Assignee: NSK Limited
• Inventors: Endo, Shuji, Kobayashi, Hideyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Cabeca, John W.
• Application Number:
  US08/909,806
• Time in Patent Office: 525 Days
• Field of Search: 318/434, 318/432, 318/433, 318/646, 318/466, 318/467, 318/468, 318/469, 318/470, 180/446, 701/41, 701/42, 701/43
• US Class Current: 318/434
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 5/0463 calculating assisting torque from the motor based on driver input

Abstract

A steering force assist command value in correspondence with a steering torque is represented by approximation function equations lower than the order of the higher order function equation. The steering torque is sampled at predetermined time intervals and the steering force assist command value in correspondence with the sampled steering torque is calculated by the approximation function equations where when data outputted from a calculation device comprise 16-bit data, upper 8-bit data is outputted to a motor drive circuit and lower 8-bit data is omitted, and the omitted lower 8-bit data is added in calculating operation of next sampling period. An error of the steering force assist command value by omission of the lower 8-bit data is reduced and steering feeling can be improved.

Claims

1. A control apparatus for an electric power steering system, said control apparatus comprising:

steering torque detecting means for detecting a steering torque caused in a steering shaft;

steering force assist command value calculating means for calculating a steering force assist command value which is a target value for controlling a steering assist force caused in the power steering system at least based on the detected steering torque; and

motor controlling means for controlling a current value of a motor for assisting a steering operation based on the calculated steering force assist command value;

wherein the steering force assist command value calculating means comprises calculating means based on a plurality of approximation function equations for approximating a higher order function equation, each of said plurality of approximation function equations coinciding with at least three points of the steering force assist command values corresponding to the steering torques defined by the higher order function equation and calculates the steering force assist command value corresponding to a detected value of the steering torque by the calculating means based on the plurality of approximation function equations.

2. A control apparatus for an electric power steering system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of approximation function equations are two second order function equations (1) and (2) defined as follows;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">I1=a1T.sup.2 +b1T+c (1)

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">I2=a2T.sup.2 +b2T+c (2)

where T;

detected steering torque

a1, a2, b1, b2 and c;

constants

I1, I2;

steering force assist command values.

3. A control apparatus for an electric power steering system according to claim 1, wherein the steering force assist command value calculating means is a calculating means constituted by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) performing a numerical calculation based on a plurality of second order function equations for successively performing a digital calculation of the steering force assist command values based on sampled values of the steering torques successively detected at predetermined time intervals, said calculating means outputting as the steering force assist command value only higher digits of a calculation result by omitting predetermined digits or lower thereof and the calculating means being provided with adding means for adding an error value of the omitted predetermined digits or lower in calculating the steering force assist command value based on a next one of the sampled value of the steering torque.

4. A control apparatus for an electric power steering system according to claim 3, wherein the steering force assist command value calculating means obtains 16-bit data as the calculation result, outputs higher 8-bit data thereof as the steering force assist command value and omits lower 8-bit data thereof.

5. A control apparatus for an electric power steering system according to claim 3, wherein the steering force assist command value calculating means obtained 32-bit data as the calculation result, outputs higher 16-bit data thereof as the steering force assist command value and omits lower 16-bit data thereof.

6. A control apparatus for an electric power steering system according to claim 3, wherein the steering force assist command value calculating means is inserted with a low pass filter on an output side thereof.

7. A control apparatus for an electric power steering system according to claim 3, wherein a cut-off frequency of a low pass filter inserted on an output side of the steering force assist command value calculating means is 1/π

or lower than a Nyquist frequency of the control system.

8. A control apparatus for an electric power steering system, said control apparatus comprising:

steering torque detecting means for detecting a steering torque caused at a steering shaft;

steering force assist command value calculating means for calculating a steering force assist command value which is a target value for controlling a steering assist force caused at the power steering system at least based on the detected steering torque; and

motor controlling means for controlling a current value of a motor for assisting a steering operation based on the calculated steering force assist command value;

wherein the steering force assist command value calculating means comprises digital calculation means having a bit number larger than a bit number of the motor controlling means, calculates the steering force assist command value based on data of the steering torque sampled at predetermined time intervals and outputs the calculated steering force assist command value to the motor controlling means in which the steering force assist command value is calculated by adding lower bits data of the steering force assist command value that is omitted in outputting the steering force assist command value to the motor controlling means, to data of the steering torque that is sampled at a next time.

9. A control apparatus for an electric power steering system according to claim 8, wherein an electric time constant of the motor for assisting the steering operation is at least 1/2π

of a sampling period of the steering torque.

10. The control apparatus for an electric power steering system according to claim 8, wherein the steering force assist command value calculated by the steering force assist command value calculating means is a current control value of the motor.